The paper focuses on data of Cretan Turks living in Bodrum (Αλικαρνασσό), a maritime city of Turkey opposite the Greek island of Kos. The case study provides us with assorted conclusions but the present article focuses on the memories related to music and analyzes the sort of songs that the Cretan Turks recall in different situations.

More specifically, we are interested in the social identity of this social group and the way it appears in its present form through different age groups and generations. As Cretan Turks called this identity “Cretan” (“κρητική”), we have researched when and how they use it. An important confirmation is that these people choose to talk about an invented identity which is associated with the past and the event of the Population Exchange of their ancestors.

Concerning the songs Cretan Turks remember, we understand that they are a blend of linguistic elements of Crete in the early 20th century, which have been transferred from their ancestors, and musical motifs, which have been added over the years, coming from the Greek islands.

Finally, in the case study of Cretan Turks, there is a collective memory consisting of ideas and images produced in the present, and as a result, this memory is composed not only of memories but also of new elements. Consequently, the announcement focuses not only on similarities in the Cretan identity of the two places (Crete and Bodrum), but also on the way they have been transformed by adding new, modern elements. In fact, it is an attempt to highlight some aspects of the invented traditions, such that of the Cretan Turks of Bodrum, who insist on defining themselves as “Cretans”.